C19 Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists Conference (May 20-23, 2010, at Penn State U): We invite proposals for a roundtable of brief talks (6-7 minutes) and open discussion on the subject of "Melville, Media, New Media." The roundtable will focus on the appropriation of Melville's writings either in traditional media—film, music, theater, the visual arts, cartoons—or in "new," electronic media: websites, Wikis, blogs, iPods, listservs, You-Tube, editing and literacy projects, or any form of "remixing," including "extreme" or avante garde forms of cultural remixing. Papers might be informational, intending to summarize historically important or recent adaptations or appropriations in an area or field such as film, radio, or TV, or electronic literacy projects related to Melville's writings; others might be more theoretical or focus on the work of a particular artist or director who has been inspired by a single text of Melville's. In short, we are looking for discussions of various media representations of Melville's works as a way of demonstrating this nineteenth-century author's artistic and cultural vitality and relevance over the decades and into the 21st century. Contributors are encouraged to speak to the question of Melville's appeal to artists working in traditional art forms or "new" media or both.

Submit a one-page proposal and brief c.v. to Christopher Sten ( csten@gwu.edu ), Department of English, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, and Wyn Kelley ( wkelley@mit.edu ), 14N-413 Department of Literature, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, by September 10, 2009. Email attachments (to both of us) are preferred. If there is sufficient interest in the topic, we will propose a roundtable to the C19 Program Directors by the September 30, 2009, deadline.